Sewing machine



April 9,1 F. ASHWORTH SEWING MACHINE Filed Nov. 29, 1944 [nveniar FredAsh war 2% Patented Apr. 30, 1946 UNITED STATES 2,399,159 I I SEWINGMACHINE r d AshwQrth, W ham Mass, assign r to United sh e achinery Crporati F emington, N. J., a, corporation of New Jersey ApplicationNovember 29, 1944, Serial No. 565,586

4 Claims. (01. mace) The present invention relates to improvements inmoccasin, seam sewing machines more particularly intended for operationon one-piece shoe uppers to insert a seam simulating one utilized tojoin together the top piece or tongue and the side piece or vamp of amoccasin-type shoe upper.

n e a ple o a curved need e machine w ich may e em loyed s tisfa tor lyto e a. m ca in. sea Joi in toge he thet p n i epieees of a sho pp r sdisclosed n United atesliet e s atent '0 th p se t in en or o- 75,9 4,anted. O t ber 934., nd 2 1320, ranted November i 0, ha n a or supp rprovided with re' intrant wo k engaging surfaces dispos d at a a gletoea h he nd. e tendi nthe dire tio of. Work eed.- .This type ofmachine. also is mployed ad anta eously to form a moccasin seam in a oe-p shoe unperther moc a in-t p am se i mach n s mme cial use ar povided with two. needles acting upon a one-piece shoe upper While beingpresented in flattened condition but,.in order to ins re h a r d emulatin a moccasin seam will be raised, a filler strip o d nari y s e plyed between the. expo d threads of the eam, and a complex threadhandling mechanism is required for connecting the threads inserted bythe needles beneath the upper to bind the strip 017113 upper. The use ofa filler strip also requires the applica-i tion of additional guidingdevices in the machine and increases the cost of operation.

When sewing a one-piece moccasin-type seam with a single curved needlemachine such as dis.- v

closed in the inventors patents above referred to, no substantialchanges or additions to the machine are required, the upp r beingpresented to the machine in such a way t at a moccasin seam simulatingridge is raised automatically by the shape of the work supporting andclamping parts and retained by the tension of the stitches 40 inserted.

In order to assist in guiding the formation of a moccasin seam in aoneepiece shoe upper and to increase the resemblance between theone-piece seam and a two piece moccasin seam, it has here.- tofore beenthe practice to trace along the grain sur ace of a one-pi c upper a l neco res ondin to the sh pe f t e seam to be in e ted, If, in trac n theuidi i r t e seem, he g ain ay r f the upper i cut Par ially o who lthrough, the seam while being inserted will draw together the parts ofthe upper at opposite sides of the slit so cut, giving the appearance ofraw edges such as those presented in a two-piece moccasin-type upper.

PATENT OF The object ef the present invention is to improve theconstruction and mode of operation of a single curved needle machineintended to sew a moccasin seam in a one-piece shoe upper in 5 such away that the necessit for cutting through the grain layer of the upperto simulate the raw edges of a two-piece moccasin seam in a separateoperation before sewing is. unnecessary so that a s m e ut cu at l a ata n o m depth through the grain layer of a one-piece shoe upper exactly,interseeting the ridge raised in the materialby the seam between'theexposed stitches while the seam is being inserted.

The illustrated form of the machine con.-

structed' to attain this object comprises a work suppo t havin work ening s rfa e p se ith r lati n eea h other and ten n inthe direction ofwork feed to tor n an angle, and an te nal nresser hav ng similarlyhaped work engasingt psnri ces comnlemental t those of the Work supportmoun ed o ope ate b ween. the. Work. engag ngsurfaees the ork upp r to..form. a ii.1o e.a 1v s am. simulatin ride n which th it into the angleof the work support opposite the sewing point, and the work slittingknife acts opposite the projection upon the compressed material of theupper to insure formation of the slit at a uniform depth. Also,according to this feature of the invention, the depth of the slitbeneath the grain surface of the upper material is limited by gagingmeans acting adjacent to the cutting edge of the knife.

These and-other features of the invention are embodied in the devices,combinations andar- .1 -angements of parts hereinafter described and,claimed'the advantages of which will be readily understood from thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,

in which Fig. 1 is a. view in side elevation, looking from work supportof the machine of Fig; 1, partly is prov ded a vkn the cutt n edge 25 oWhich intersects theahgle of the work support and is primarily intendedto operate on bevel-' edged moccasin parts including a top-piece ortongue and a vamp or side piece of a shoe upper, previously assembledwith cement as a temporary connecting agent. The machine also is welladapted for use in sewing a moccasin seam in a one-piece shoe upper suchas that indicated in Fig. 3 of the drawing at 2 to raise a U-shapedridge l about the toe of the shoe both for ornamental as well asstructural reinforcing purposes.

During sewing, the seam 4 having exposed portions of the threadsmaintains an angular shape in the material of the upper as formed by thecooperative action of a work support 6 and a presser 8 in themachine'and draw the sides of the angle together at its apex to producea peak on the ridge. The upper 2, after sewing the moccasin seam, islasted in the usual way and attached to a sole member II to complete theshoe.

The illustrated machine is provided with a curved hook needle l4 and acurved work penetrating and feeding awl l6 acting to enter and emergefrom the same side of the work, a horn I 8 and other lockstitch formingdevices of the usual form. The work is fed through the machine by themovement of the awl while engaging the work toward a position ofalinement with the needle so that the needle will enter the perforationformed by the awl. When the awl withdraws from the work, it is backfedthe length of a stitch and again penetrates the work.

The upper is clamped in position during formation of each stitch betweenthe work support 6 and the presser 8 which is securedto the end of thehorn. The co-operating work engaging surfaces of the work support andpresser extend in the direction of feed, are complemental and aredisposed in angular relation. The work support is formed in two partswith a reentrant angle between the parts, one of which is alreadydesignated by the numeral 6 and the other of which, indicated at 20, issecured to the part 6 by a pair of spaced screws 22, one or morevertical dowels 24 passing through the parts for maintaining the properalinement. A continuation of the line of division between the parts 6and 20 of the work support intersects the angle formed by the reentrantwork engaging surfaces thereof.

Besides having external angularly disposed work engaging surfaces of thesame angle as the cooperating surfaces of the work support, the pressertip has a projection 26 located along the line of the seam between thework penetrating positions of the needle and awl substantially oppositethe sewing point, the presser tip being cut away to provide a clearancerecess for the needle and awl at either side of the projection. Thepurpose of the projection 25 is to crowd the material of the upperfirmly into the apex of the angle formed by the internal'work engagingsurfaces of the work support so that the seam 4 will be inserted withuniform spacing of the exposed threads in the stitches along the outergrain surface of the upper. The action of the stitches while drawing theinner sides of the material in the upper together and retaining thematerialpermanently in'this relationship avoids the necessity forinsorting a filler strip to form the ridge H) as with two-needlemachines.

While inserting the seam according to the present invention, a slit 21entering the grain layer of the upper material at exactly the center ofthe ridge I0 between the exposed threads in the seam is cut by a flatsheet-metal knife 28 disposed with its cutting edge intersecting theangle of the work engaging surfaces on the work support 6, 20. To securethe knife 28 in place, it is comtructed in the form of a plate andlocated between the parts 6 and of the work support, having perforationsto receive the screws 22 and the dowels at all times.

In order to reinforce the cutting edge of the knife and to limit thedepth of the slit cut thereby, a pair of spacing plates 30 are arrangedone on either side of the knife with forwardly facing gaging edgesextending outwardly from the apex of the angle of the work supportsuificiently to enable the folded-over material of the upper to bearagainst the plates. Thus, it is impossible to thrust the upper duringformation of the ridge I [I against the knife to increase the depth ofthe slit.

The cutting edge of the knife is provided by sharpening one edge of alip 32 extending from the knife opposite the work compressing projection26 of the presser tip 8. With this arrangement a constant and uniformcompression of the material in the upper while being acted upon by theknife is insured. With variations in thickness of the upper material,the presser tip 8 will be held farther away from the knife or allowed toapproach closer thereto while maintaining uniform compression of thematerial against the knife The location of the lip 32 opposite theprojection 26 is of further advantage in that, during tipping andturning movements of the upper in presenting it to the machine, there isno tendency for the curved portions of the seam to carry the ridge l0farther away from or closer to the, cutting edge which is opposite thesewing point in the machine.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and aconstruction embodying the invention having been specifically described,what is claimed is:

1. In a machine for sewing a moccasin seam in a one-piece shoe upper,having a work support provided with work engaging surfaces disposed withrelation to each other and extending in the direction of work feed toform an angle and stitch forming devices comprising a single curvedneedle movable across the angle of said surfaces to enter and emergefrom the same side of the work supported by the work support and aninternal presser having a tip with work engaging surfaces disposed atthe same. angle as that of the work engaging surfaces of the worksupport, in combination with a work engaging knife intersecting theangle between the work engaging surfaces of the work support and enterinthe material of the upper being operated upon between the exposedthreads of a seam inserted by the stitch forming devices to form a slitalong a ridge raised by the seam inserted by the stitch forming devices.

2. In a machine for sewing a moccasin seam in a one-piece shoe upper,having a work support provided with work engaging surfaces disposed withrelation to each other and extending in the direction of work feed toform an angle, stitch forming devices comprising a curved hook needlemovable across the angle of said surfaces to enter and'emerge from thesame side of the work supported by the work support and an internalpresser having a tip with work engaging surfaces disposed at the sameangle as that of the work engaging surfaces of the work support, and apro jection on the presser tip acting to compres the material of theupper and crowd it into the angle of the work support, in combinationwith a work engaging knife arranged with its sharpened edge opposite theprojection of the presser tip intersecting the angle between the workengaging surfaces of the work support to cut a slit along a ridge raisedin the material by the seaminserted by the stitch forming devices.

3. In a machine for sewing a moccasin seam in a one-piece shoe upper,having a two-part work support provided with work engaging surfacesdisposed with relation to each other and extending in the direction ofwork feed to form an angle, the line of division between the parts ofthe work support intersecting the angle of the work engaging surfaces,stitch forming devices comprising a curved hook needle movable acrossthe angle of said surfaces, and an internal presser havin a tip withwork engaging surfaces disposed at the same angle as that of the workengaging surfaces of the work support, in combination with a fiat knifeclamped along its flat sides between the parts of the work support andarranged with its cutting edge entering the material of the upper beingoperated upon between the exposed threads of the seam inserted by thestitch forming devices to form a slit along a ridge raised by the seam.

4. In a machine for sewing a moccasin scam in a one-piece shoe upper,having a two-part work support provided with Work engaging surfacesdisposed with relation to each other and extending in the direction ofwork feed to form an angle, the line of division between the parts ofthe work support intersecting the angle of the work engaging surfaces,stitch forming devices comprising a curved hook needle movable acrossthe angle of said surfaces, and an internal presser having a tip withwork engaging surfaces disposed at the same angle as that of the workengaging surfaces of the work support, in combination with a flat knifeclamped between the parts of the work support and arranged with itscutting edge entering the material of the upper being operated uponbetween the exposed threads of the seam inserted by the stitch formingdevice to form a slit along a ridge raised by the seam, and gaging meansacting adjacent to the cutting edge of the knife to limit the depth ofthe slit cut by the knife.

FRED ASHWORTH.

